[How to] Send Free SMS: Top 10 Services to Use

I think for most of us, it’s much easier to send an SMS than an IM or email, mostly because not everyone has an IM/email client on their phone, or a data subscription to read them over the Internet, and also because SMS was the first method of sending text on a mobile phone. So, it’s easy to understand why SMS is more popular that the other methods. And as all things, anything that is good, it’s better if it’s free.

Save a Buck, Send Free SMS Online

Many mobile networks offers SMS’s in their subscription, but not that many, or if you have a pre-paid SIM, you might be interested in knowing how to send free SMS over the internet. In the past, there were lots of bogus sites claiming to allow you to send free SMS, but now you have much more options. I myself have used many internet SMS systems in the past, and I have a pretty good idea which are the real deal and which are hoaxes. Nonetheless, also from my own experience, I saw that these services come and go, so it’s better to use veteran products.

In this top list, I tried to mention the best free online SMS services. It’s safe to say that the order of the services does not matter that much, since SMS does not have that many features. The only difference between them is the number of countries they work in. Most of them work worldwide and have many countries and some of the biggest mobile networks from each of them. For the most part, they are easy to use, just select your county, your mobile operator, fill in your mobile number, write your text, select the mobile network you want to send the SMS to and fill the number, that’s pretty much all you have to do.

Top 10 Free SMS Services

Some even have the possibility to notify you if you get a reply via email, or SMS (I cannot understand the possible use of this feature, if you text someone online, they will most likely send you an SMS directly on your mobile phone and not reply to the online one, but there you go, it’s a feature). And now, moving on the part you’ve all been waiting for, here is the list of free online SMS services, in my opinion:

You may have heard of Jaxtr before, but now they have a free SMS service that you can use in up to 38 countries. It’s ideal for sending short messages (65 characters) and can some times be a life saver. You can see that their website is nicely organized and they even have specific apps for that, so you can take it with your smartphone or even feature phone.

Skebby is probably the easiest to use so far, you only have to select country code, to put the number of the recipient and that’s all. It has a really intuitive interface and you should be able to send your message in less than 120 characters. Hey, free doesn’t come with all the goodies, doesn’t it?

It was ridiculous to think that Google wouldn’t try to make itself known in the free SMS business, so they have launched an internet SMS service. I must admit, I am much more comfortable (from a security point of view) to use Google than any other service.

If you didn’t know so far, Yahoo! Messenger has an awesome free SMS service that you can always try. It’s a way for Yahoo! to say thank you for its loyal users. However, there is a limited list of countries that you can send free SMS to. The list is as follows:

This service allows you send 160 character SMS to a contact list, and the best part about it is when the other person receives your text, it will be with your name and number. Another cool thing is that this service will not include ads in your message (only if you choose to).

SendSMSNow allows you to send 130 character SMS to your contact list, and as Yakedi, the receiver will see your name and number and not a service center number. This is quite a good service, you should definitely give it a try.

7. Text4Free

A cool tool for sending SMS worldwide, with a length of 140 characters. You can send to almost any country, but in order to do that, you must know the recipient’s carrier network. The website’s interface may look a little bit old, but I can assure you that it performs its job perfectly.

A simple and intuitive tool for sending free online SMSs to a length of 155 characters. I really like this service, it’s fast and easy to use, if you are in a hurry to send an SMS online, give it a try! However, it will work only for U.S residents, at the moment.

Free Text Messaging is, as the name suggests, a world wide free SMS service that is a piece of cake to use. You only have a few fields to fill and then you are ready to go. The option of quick texts is a nice option also. You will find quite a collection of carriers there.

txtDrop is a nice internet based SMS service that allows users in the US and Canada to send free online SMSs to almost any mobile carrier. It seems that it’s much easier to send free SMS only to US and Canada than to the rest of the world, from obvious reasons.

Before you close this page, please read this word of caution: be careful and read the terms and conditions of these websites, many of them make their money by spamming and sending ads to your phone. My advice is to buy a pre-paid SIM and try the service before you use it on your own phone. Some hoax websites may even take your credit, so try them out before you use them. We did that for you, but you never know what happens next. Trust only the best services in this top.

Even now, when the mobile market is full of thousands of minutes and data plans with email and IM clients, there is no argue that SMS still has its charm: it’s easy to write, fast and effective. I remember the days when I got my first phone (it was a Nokia 3310 if my memory serves right) and I used to text night and day, now, it’s easier to just to call whomever I want to talk to, but nonetheless, SMS is still the old, nice way. And sending free SMS is the new, hassle-free way.